BERLIN, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- German SPD candidate Martin Schulz has launched a new attack on Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) on Sunday night, weeks before Germans are scheduled to elect a new federal parliament (Bundestag).
Still trailing behind Merkel in opinion polls, Schulz sought to reinvigorate his bid for Germany's chancellorship by adopting a more aggressive tone against the country's incumbent leader.
"There are many issues where people have the feeling that Merkel is out of touch," the SPD candidate told public broadcaster ARD during an interview.
He accused Merkel of abusing her position of political power to reduce the cost of her campaign and having attempted to dictate the terms of their upcoming televised debate.
The former president of the European Parliament cited a report by news magazine SPIEGEL according to which Merkel was making use of police and military helicopters without the CDU covering the full cost of the service.
"She is using the infrastructure of the state to fly to her campaign events at a bargain price," Schulz complained.
He also blasted Merkel for lacking the courage to engage in a real debate after the chancellor was reported to have rejected proposals allowing for greater spontaneity during the pair's televised discussion next Sunday.
"More and more people are seeing this as a kind of aloofness that is already playing a big role in this campaign and will mobilize my voters," Schulz said.
The SPD candidate further attacked Merkel for being too soft on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for having "no plan" on how to resolve the ongoing "dieselgate" scandal, and for not investing enough in education and childcare.
Appearing on ZDF for a separate interview shortly thereafter, Merkel appeared calm and unimpressed by Schulz' heavy criticism.
In response to the accusation of aloofness, the chancellor smiled and said that she had always attempted "to do justice" to her political office.
"And that means serving the people of Germany," she added, noting that she had sworn an oath to do as much.
Asked about Schulz' claim that she had tried to manipulate their TV confrontation next Sunday, Merkel replied simply that she looked forward to next week's debate.
Rather than engaging with criticism, the CDU leader adopted several of her rival's proposals. She echoed Schulz' rallying cry for a greater focus on education and childcare, for example, admitting that while her government had made progress on these issues, more remained to be done.
Merkel continues to enjoy a comfortable lead over political opponents. The latest "Stern RTL Wahltrend" survey gave the CDU/CSU conservative alliance a combined 38 percent following, compared to 24 percent for the SPD.
The discrepancy was even starker in a direct comparison of candidates, where Merkel (50 percent) was widely backed over Schulz (23 percent) by respondents.
Nevertheless, Schulz insisted on Sunday night that he could still become chancellor by focusing on undecided voters. A recent study suggested that as many as 46 percent of German voters had not made up their minds on whom to vote for yet.
"I want to reach those undecided people," Schulz said. "...[I]f I can do that, then I can win the parliamentary elections."
In a show of confidence, the SPD leader told ARD that he was not interested in a renewal of the current "grand coalition" between the SPD and CDU unless he was at its helm.
"I don't want to continue the grand coalition...If [Merkel] wants to join a government under my leadership with the CDU as junior partner, then we can see. But I don't think they want to continue the grand coalition either."
